I live in Lawrence, Kansas, about 15 minutes from the famous Stull Cemetery and Church. I've been in this area of rabout four years, and have made a number of visits to the church, noe of which were before its destruction two years ago, I'm sad to say.

Before I go on, let me state this- I am a skeptic. I have never seen a ghost, or any evidence of the paranormal, and when going into supposedly haunted places, I rarely expect to. Nine times out of ten when I hear a person describing legends or rumours, I scoff inwardly, as most people who seem to be enthusiastic about talking about the supernatural...well, let's just say I have a low tolerance for flakes, and there's alot of them out there.

I have met people, however, in whose veracity I believe. I have a small circle of acquaintances and friends who have related encounters and experiences to me which I do not scoff at.. so what does that say about me?

I suppose, in a nutshell, I'm a nonbeliever who desperately wants to be proven wrong.

Back to Stull... for one reason or another, I seem to never get bothered by either ghosts or the authorities. Stull is widely known as a place where, if you are caught, you WILL go to jail. I've been there in the middle of the night, and the middle of the day, and I've yet to be hassled, harrassed, haunted or arrested.

I am planning on revisiting Stull often, and I would like to make an open offer to anyone: if you have questions you would like answered, or photographs taken, let me know and I'll do what I can. I might even be willing to sell some small parts of my collection of stones, mortar and wood from the church itself for the right price. In the near future I am planning on going to Stull with a metal detector, infrared camera lens and whatever other equiptment I can muster. I'm even hoping to spend the night sometime soon when the weather is nicer, perhaps late October. (In case you're wondering, yes, I do have secret knowledge/techniques/permission at my disposal, and no, I'm not divulging what they are.)

I am looking for only two pieces of information:

1. I have heard many reports about the hidden staircase behind and to the right of the church, but so far have been unsuccessful in finding it. If anyone knows where this staircase is, please let me know. Especially helpful would be distances from the church. Since the demolition of the church walls happened, much of the surrounding area is covered in rubble. If this staircase was a storm cellar or storage room of some sort, which seems to me to be the most likely explination, then it might be covered in rubble. I'd rather have some confirmation of this than go pushing through all that rock- it's hot in Kansas, and the grasshoppers and mosquitoes are out in full force.

2. I have herd rumours about a second cemetary behind the main one, a "children's cemetary" that is supposedly REALLY haunted. My search of the area and viewing of satellite photos indicate that there isn't one nearby. However, satellite photos aren't all that detailed (on Terraserver, you can't even make out the stones in the main cemetary), so there might be some truth to this. I HAVE been to the cemetary down the road from Stull, and I can tell you that it is not exclusively a children's cemetary, and it seems no less haunted than any other place I've been to.

If anyone has information about these things, please tell me. I will reciprocate in any way I can.

If there is anyone in the area who would like to accompany me on ghost hunts, Urban Exploration or the finding of ghost towns in the area, let me know....the more the merrier.

The stairs are behind the church if your looking straight at the building, or I guess the rubble now. Someone said before that they found the stairs and saw that they led to a bunch of rooms or something, but when they came back up, time had passed quickly. I also live in Kansas and I am fully aware that people have storm cellars nearby. I believe it is possible for this 'stairway to hell' to actually be a storage room.
Here's my theory: Back when the church was still in use, it was the middle of summer or mid-July when tornadoes are usually reported, the people in the church either saw the twister or someone told them one was coming, they went into the storm celler (gate to hell), while someone was watching them from a distance. After the storm passed, the people came out of the cellar, only the person watching didn't see them come out, therefore, thinking they never came out, so this person thought it was an endless tunnel or something, or gate to hell. That's just a thought, but seems plausible.

Your ideas sound very plausible... so are you saying that the staircase is located directly behind the church, say, a few feet at the most from the foundation? I'm going back in a few weeks, so if you can be more precise it would be helpful. I'm also working on getting permission from the owners to explore as part of a myth debunking project.

Interests:Ghosthunting, all aspects of the paranormal and the occult. I love to read and write, Stephen King is my current favorite author. I enjoy cemetery photography, exploring old places, being a husband and a father.<br><br>I love ghosthunting here in New Orleans. There is something new and amazing to discover here everyday. The culture is like no other. I lived in New Orleans all my life and complained about it everyday. It took moving out of state to make me realize how much I love this city. Now I'm back in New Orleans and couldn't be happier.

Posted 04 August 2004 - 05:03 PM

A band called Urge Overkill actually did a song about Stull Cemetery. And the pope apparently didn't want to fly over it either. Tre Creepy!

Knowledge is the clearest and most direct representation of utter power. The power to change your place on Earth, the power to change your fate, the very power to alter yourself. Thirst for this power and your inner longings will become satisfied and your external desires will become moot.http://www.geocities.com/kalebbkellum/

There's no truth to the rumour about the pope whatsoever- Time magazine never even interviewed that pope, much less took a statement regarding Stull. Also untrue is the rumour that the band The Cure refuse to play the midwest because of it... the truth there is that Robert Smith was "fagbashed" in Kansas City, and hit with a beer bottle onstage in St.Louis... hence, his refusal to come back.

Still awaiting precise coordinates of the staircase... I'm going to go on the assumption that it's close to the foundation itself when I return next week. I'll be sure to post a report, including photos, just as soon as I can.

Jericho

oh, and yes, I'm happy to have companions when I go, if anyone in the area wants to join.

Precise location? Good lord....ummmm if I remember correctly (and I'm not sure I do) they're behind the church covered by grass. No matter where it actually is, it's gonna take some time to find. If you do look for the stairs, I suggest you go during the day. The light pole in the cemetery may or may not be on. Take a flashlight (that you already know) and maybe some hedge clippers. You'll probably need them. I'm going to check some websites to see where I found the coordinates to the stairs. It might take awhile.

Okay...found directions to the stairs:
Behind the church on the right side, while facing the building. There's a lid covering the stairs. I strongly suggest taking hedge clippers. I'll bet you need them. Here's the website: www.GeoCities.com. I'd have attached this entry to the link, but I don't know how.

The way I see it, the townsfolk and owners are mainly protecting the land from vandalism and being a place for "satanists" to loiter, get drunk, and potentially hurt themselves, thus creating a lawsuit. When I visit these sorts of places, I leavce them as I found them, except that I bring a trach bag and try to clean up whatever debris I find. Nine times out of ten, the worst I get is a stern command to leave. I know it's not hte most legal philosophy, but I feel that since I'm not damaging anything or anyone, why not?

I still could use some info on the proximity of the stairs to the church- 3 feet away, ten, twenty? Any clues would be helpful... regardless, it's become almost a challenege now- I MUST find them darn stairs!

hey jerico, this is ghostbuster20's, boyfreand i want to tell u my stull story when i went stull it was true my tepm droped but i thouht it was not all the scary as it was sopos to be to me but i will tell ya me and my freands went to stull at night late and the white house acorse the street keep their porch light on. and ok anyway the night i went to stull we all had flash lights and to be honest i don't think theyr are gates to hell i could not find it we looked all over the back of the church and could not find it anyway if u go at night don't go alone it is kinda creepy if u hear a a dog hound RUN LIKE HELL!!! we herd that. um,mmm i have a Questionfor ya now after i went to stull for 3 freaking days i had bad day day 1 bad day ay work day 2 i had a flat tire to work day 3 i got aanother flat tire.......is that just for going to stull?????? well let me know my e mail is wrfrock@yahoo.com